Nigeria short lists banks for Eurobond sale, no final decision yet

ABUJA, NOVEMBER 11, 2016 – Nigeria’s debt office has a short list of banks to manage its planned $1 billion Eurobond sale, but the government has not made a final decision, a senior official said on Friday.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, wants to sell $1 billion in Eurobonds by the end of the year, although no bank has been appointed yet to arrange the issue.

The official, who did not wish to be identified, said the list has been sent to Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), after which the finance minister will offer the names to the cabinet for approval. He did not disclose how long the process might take.

“The names have been picked but it has to go through government process,” he told Reuters. “The issue will happen this year.”

Nigeria has $500 million of commitments for the planned Eurobond and any decision to increase the size of the offer will depend on pricing, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun has said.

The official said Adeosun met with Moody’s Investors Service on Friday to discuss Nigeria’s ratings before the bond sale. Moody’s downgraded Nigeria’s sovereign rating to B1 from Ba3 in April, citing risks to government efforts to diversify revenues away from oil, its mainstay.

Citibank and Deutsche Bank managed previous issues by Nigeria in 2010 and 2013.